Rebecca Fox

If hunters remember anything this roar, it should be the seven basic rules of firearm safety and the old forestry safety message ''no meat is better than no mate'', New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association vice-president Bill O'Leary says.

It is expected tough new water quality regulations approved by the Otago Regional Council this week will end up in the Environment Court.

Changes to water quality proposals will give landholders more time to meet tough new standards and allay fears about the ''pollution police'', Cr Duncan Butcher says.

Restructuring of the Department of Conservation has left the boards which provide strategic direction to the regions questioning their future.

The Otago conservancy is to be split in two under a restructuring proposal announced by the Department of Conservation yesterday that will cut 140 jobs nationwide.

Newly appointed New Zealand Fish and Game Council chairman Peter Robinson has declined to comment on the progress of a complaint made by Otago councillor Dave Witherow against its chief executive.

A cut of 19 tonnes has been made to Otago's lobster fisheries commercial quota for the coming season after last year's low catch.

Conservation organisations are worried rural frontline staff will be laid off and more emphasis placed on using volunteers when a restructuring announcement is made by the Department of Conservation today.

The Otago Regional Council has held off releasing its long-awaited water quality plan change recommendations to ensure staff and councillors are ''singing from the same song sheet''.

Time for a walk, cycle or just curling up with a book eludes most Otago women.